The FIA announced on Thursday, October 17, that a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council resulted in the elimination of awarding a point for the fastest lap for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
A point for the fastest lap was given for the first ten years of the championship and then abandoned after the 1959 season. The concept had the dust blown off it 60 years later, with a point for the fastest lap returning for 2019 and running until next season.
The meeting also saw the organization add an additional opening practice session for teams to install a rookie driver in each of their cars, shifting from one to two. Pato O’Ward, for example, will be practicing for McLaren in Mexico City next Friday under the new rules. McLaren would then still need another rookie in the car, and O’Ward will be in for one other session.
Getting rid of the fastest lap is a mistake in many ways. If the goal was to have only race results decide championships, the FIA had already botched that notion. For example, last year’s driver’s championship was clinched at the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint on Saturday.
The second is that the fastest lap itself was not enough to flip a championship or be even a minor factor. That might be 24 points all added up, but with how inconsistently it gets distributed, it doesn’t mean much.
At the same time, however, it is something. And it does lead to big moments on track at the end of races, frequently adding drama to races that are already essentially over.
That Singapore race last month in which Daniel Ricciardo scored the fastest lap at the very end? That was a big, nothing of a race. Ricciardo going for the fastest lap was the only moment that had any kind of excitement to it that entire second half.
And if nobody can make a free pit stop to take it, it usually requires drivers to go and save all they can on the final run before making one last all-out lap at the end.
Now, there were ways the FIA could adjust the rule to stop it from being gamed. One idea I’ve seen online would be to have the fastest lap be the fastest lap amongst the top 10 finishers instead of it being open for everybody but only the top 10 being eligible for the point.
With how close F1 is today, Sauber is probably the only team that can put four sticker softs on at the end of the race and not get the fastest lap. This can lead to situations like we saw in Singapore, where RB had no chance at points, so they tried to steal the fastest lap from McLaren. This solves that, instead of just taking fastest lap away anyhow.
And if the championship were close enough to where the fastest lap could be a clear decider? Maybe that’s on the points leader for not building up a big enough points gap over 23 races.
As far as the rookie rule goes, that’s pretty good. It’s really not going to get those rookies onto the grid, but it will give them the experience they will need to prove they are ready for it.
I still think the best format for doing sprint races is to lower the field for them to 10 cars, with a rookie in each of the 10 cars. Make it only for constructor points, not the driver standings.
On Friday afternoons after FP1, F1 would have a half-hour rookie-only FP2 session with a one-round, 15-minute Sprint qualifying session just 30 minutes later. The concept of a post-season non-championship Sprint is a good start. This would be the next evolution of that.
Finally, it should be stated that this fall break really doesn’t work for me in a logistical way. A month of racing sandwiched in between two months off means all that momentum F1 gathered through the summer is all but gone entering this weekend.
To go along with that, after the next three weeks, there will be two more weeks off before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will be followed up next week by a race in Qatar. That will still be a massive strain on teams, almost like this month off did not happen.
What I would have done scheduling-wise would have been to have a two-week break after Singapore, followed by COTA and Brazil. A one-week break would lead into this weekend, which would be Las Vegas to escape the cold late November night and then Mexico City.
F1 would then take three weeks off before diving into Qatar and Abu Dhabi. I think teams need time off in a 24-race weekend schedule, but there’s a balance that this fall has not been steady on.
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.